Happy new year!

We are very behind on catching everyone up on our lives. The end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 have been very busy for us. We wish you a happy new year because it still feels like the year has just begun!





David’s had two busy months in November and December, and worked Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve and Day. We did enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with our friends Craig and Jessie Gurney after David got back. Poor William got hit with a nasty gastrointestinal virus the entire week of Thanksgiving, and David got the 24-hour version twice in December. Since David worked Christmas, we celebrated on December 21st and 22nd, which felt very much like the real thing. We enjoyed the time celebrating together as a family. David’s sisters and brother drove from Texas to see us for 3 days after Christmas, only one of which David had off. (They work interns hard!) It was a lot of fun to have them here, and William was especially thrilled to have his aunts and uncle play with him. We enjoyed going to EnterTRAINment Junction and the Cincinnati Nature Center to hike while they were here. We have enjoyed some snow several times this winter, and David was able to get out with William to play in the snow a few times. William continues to become more independent and grown-up.



Emily was taken completely by surprise by the early birth of our 3rd son, Neil Thomas Clark, on January 5th instead of the 7th. Emily remained in denial even four hours prior to his first breath outside the womb. She had contractions all day, yet she continued cleaning, cooking, and shopping. After David got home from work, we dropped William off with some friends, and then rushed to the hospital, checking in just after 6:00 p.m. Since Emily was already dilated to 7 ½ cm, it didn’t take long for Neil to be born at 8:23 p.m. He had lots of fine, brown hair and dark eyes, and we were very grateful to have a healthy new boy. William has adjusted quite well to being the big brother, and loves to give Neil hugs, “play” with him on the floor, help with baths and changes, and hold him. We were very grateful that Emily’s mom was able to come help for a week after Emily got home from the hospital. We enjoyed her visit and all of her help. David’s much-deserved and long-overdue 2-week vacation began after she left. After the first week, we were happy to have David’s parents come visit and help out for a week. We are all pretty well adjusted to the latest addition to our family. Neil is now nearly 8 weeks old, and smiling and cooing for us regularly. It is fun to see the differences and similarities between Neil and William and imagine how Neil will look as he gets older.

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